The Black Watch Museum and Friends of the Black Watch
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No.182 November 2018 THE REDHACKLE OA Scotland can give you the support you need The Officers Association Scotland provides arange of welfare services for former officers, reservists, their widows /widowers and dependants OA Scotland offers: Financial Assistance | Annual Grants | Respite and Breaks | Advice | Mobility Support Other services We also offer arange of employment services aimed at getting those detached from the work place back into work as well as afree recruitment service.Ifyou want to find out more about OA Scotland Welfare Services, please contact us Contact us on 0131 550 1555 email [email protected] or visit www.oascotland.org.uk New Haig House,Logie Green Road, Edinburgh EH7 4HQ Scottish Charity No.SC010665 No. 182 42nd 73rd November 2018 THE RED HACKLE The Chronicle of The Black Wa tch (Royal Highland Regiment), its successor The Black Wa tch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Affiliated Regiments and The Black Wa tch Association The Royal Colonel, His Royal Highness The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay visited Fort George on Friday 28 September to present medals to members of the Battalion who had deployed to Iraq. He is seen chatting to the Battalion Second-in-Command, Major Nick Colquhoun. CSMCoupar of CCompany looks on. NOVEMBER 2018 THE RED HACKLE 1 We provide a lifetime of support to soldiers, veterans and their immediate families. Each year, we support a wide range of front line charities and specialist organisations, such as SSAFA, Combat Stress, Royal Star & Garter and the NSPCC, which deliver help on our behalf. We also make direct grants to thousands of individuals, ranging in age from 9 months to 105 years old. Through our network of support, our work touches the lives of around 75,000 people worldwide, every year. It is because of the generosity of people like you that we are able to do this vital work – today and in the future. Donate online or get involved in fundraising at www.soldierscharity.org ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is a registered charity in England and Wales (1146420) and Scotland (039189) Registered Offi c e: Mountbarrow House, 12 Elizabeth Street, London SW1W 9RB Tel: 020 7901 8900, Email: [email protected] Left to right: Siobhan Weller, Les Fryatt, Kenneth Kwogyenga – Charity benefi c iaries 2 THE RED HACKLE NOVEMBER 2018 Contents THE Editorial .............................................................................................................................................. 3 RED HACKLE Regimental News ............................................................................................................................... 4 The Black Watch Museum and Friends of The Black Watch...................................................... 12 Book Reviews ................................................................................................................................... 16 Correspondence ............................................................................................................................... 18 Obituaries ......................................................................................................................................... 19 Articles .............................................................................................................................................. 27 The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland ............................................ 35 51st Highland, 7th Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland.................................................. 48 HMS Montrose................................................................................................................................. 53 The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada .......................................................... 54 Black Watch Battalion Army Cadet Force .................................................................................... 56 Association News ............................................................................................................................. 58 Editorial The Chronicle of This edition of the RedHackle magazine has an interesting number of articles some of which The Black Watch focus on the 100th anniversary of events that occurred in 1918; the second part of “Perthshire to (Royal Highland Regiment) Picardy” follows the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion through to the end of the Great Warand in an its successor article called “A Grave Apart”, the family of 2Lt David Burns who was killed on 30 September The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion 1918 with the 8th Battalion, explains why he was not buried in aWar Graves Commission cem- The Royal Regiment of Scotland etery. Iain Adams –Cairns has brought us into the late 20th and early 21st Centuries as he has researched Black Watch men who have been trained as pilots and lastly Major Jamie Campbell The Affiliated Regiments has written of his experiences after he left the Army but found himself in Vietnam, as the and Americans withdrew hastily from avery messy war. The Black Watch Association The Great Warhas dominated the events that the Association has taken part in; Memorial Services at Balhousie Castle focussed on the start of the last great German offensive of March 1918, the Lysoffensive of April 1918 and the Battle of Ta rdenois in July 1918. John Glen of the November 2018 Angus Branch represented the Regiment at Arras and Lieutenant Colonel Mike Smith repre- No.182 sented the Regiment at the Menin Gate ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the great pilgrimage when over 11,000 veterans paraded in Ypres. Lastly, the Perth Branch of the Association held asuccessful Centenary Croix de Guerre Dinner in Perth. The Museum has had abusy summer and is currently hosting the “There But Not There” exhi- Published for The Black Watch bition. In addition the Association has funded aproject to scope the efficient cataloguing of the artefacts held by the museum so that it can meet the exacting standards of modern management. Lastly, The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland returned from asuc- cessful tour training Iraqi forces at Al Assad airbase. They then carried out anumber of novel marches in the old Black Watch recruiting area; Forfar, Dunfermline and Perth all enjoyed aparade that encompassed the traditional “Colours Flying and Bayonets Fixed” as well as FOXHOUND vehicles and patrolling soldiers showing off modern infantry equipment. The major event for next year is the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the formation of The Black Watch Association. This will take the form of aKirk service and lunch which will be followed by the Reunion and will take place on Saturday 15 June 2019. METHOD PUBLISHING 64 Main Street, Golspie, Sutherland, Scotland KW10 6TG Telephone (01408) 633871 to whom all enquiries regarding advertisingshould be addressed. The opinions expressed in the articles of the magazine arethose of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the Editorial Matter and Illustrations policy and views, official or otherwise, of the Regimental Association or the MOD. This publication contains official ©Crown Copyright information. It should be treated with discretion by the recipient. “The RedHackle”ispublished everysix months in Mayand November.Contributions large and small will always be welcome. They should be typewritten in double spacing on one side of the paper only.Photographs, cartoons and Design and Typography sketches of Regimental interest arealso welcome and will be returned if requested. ©Method Publishing 2018 All material for inclusion in the various issues must reach the Editor not later than 1April and 1October respectively. From 1January2013, bulk orders aresupplied at arate of £7 per copy.Individual copies aresent out to permanent subscribers, both in the UK and abroad, at asubscription rate of £14 annually for UK subscribers, £30 annually to Europe and £30 annually Worldwide by airmail. AGift Aid Scheme is available for individual subscribers who aresubject to UK tax. The magazine fund benefits from tax reclaimed in this way.All subscriptions should be sent to the Editor,The RedHackle Magazine, Balhousie Castle, HayStreet, PerthPH1 5HR, and those interested in the Gift Aid Scheme, will on request be provided with the correct forms for completion. NOVEMBER 2018 THE RED HACKLE 3 15 April Angus Branch AGMForfar April (Date TBC) London Branch AGMLondon 27 April Association Annual General Balhousie Meeting Castle 11 May Edinburgh &Lothians Branch Edinburgh Al Basrah Lunch 18 May Highland Branch Aberfeldy Dinner Fort George TBC (Date TBC) The Not Forgotten Association London Garden Party 10 June Officers’ and Ladies’ Lunch Caledonian Club, London 14 June Black Watch Association Muckhart All Ranks Golf Meeting Golf Club 15 June (am) 100th Anniversary of the Balhousie formation of The Black Watch Castle Regimental News Association and the final Service of commemoration to the dead of The Great War FORECAST OF EVENTS 2019 15 June (pm) Regimental Reunion Balhousie DATE EVENT LOCATION Castle 2019 June 9January Friends Lecture –Original Balhousie (Date TBC) Royal Hospital Chelsea Chelsea letters from the 1918 Armistice Castle Founders Day 12 January Edinburgh &Lothians Branch Edinburgh 3August Highland Branch, Inter Community RedHackle Night Branch Games Day Centre, 22 January Friends Lecture Balhousie Inverness How to trace asoldier Castle 15 September Fife Branch Alma Ladies Lunch Fife 26 January Angus Branch Burns Supper Forfar (TBC) 1February